Josh Hines-Allen comparison to an All-Time great will get Jaguars fans amped up

Defensive end Josh Hines-Allen is a franchise cornerstone for the Jacksonville Jaguars but just how good is he truly? If you ask head coach Doug Pederson, he wants to be as great as one of the all-time greats, the late Reggie White.

Pederson appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and said that Hines-Allen reminded him of White, citing how committed he is to improving and how much of a positive impact he has on the team.

"I can go all the way back to my playing days in Green Bay, having played with Reggie White," Pederson said. "That's high class, high character, high defensive end type positions. But Josh is still learning. I think Josh is still growing as a player, only in Year 5 and beyond. He wants to be great just like Reggie did. I think about the time I spent with him, and I'm thinking about how Reggie led our teams in Green Bay and think about how Josh does that here, how he's around his guys."

"Josh, one of the things that I appreciate about Josh, too, is he does take time in the offseason. He goes away, he trains away from Jacksonville but when he comes back, he comes back in the right frame of mind. He's physically ready to go. And probably more impressive for me is the maturity and how mentally ready to go he is, and how he cares so much about this football team, about this organization, the franchise, the people here in Jacksonville," Pederson continued.

"Yet, he's one of those guys that practices every single day. That's the same way Reggie was. Reggie was the same type of player, he practiced every single day. He practiced hurt. Josh does the same thing. He had a heck of a year last year, and we just got to capitalize and build off of that. I think the new scheme that Ryan Nielsen's bringing is going to help him, and looking forward to him cutting it loose this season and seeing where it can go."

Even Rich Eisen sounded surprised when he heard the comparison. Here's the whole exchange in case you want to listen to it.

For the sake of clarity, Pederson isn't suggesting that Hines-Allen is as good as White. He says the former reminds him of the latter You could argue that it's semantics but the distinction is necessary is necessary precisely to avoid a potato/potahto kind of situation.

After all, players like the Minister of Defense don't grow on trees and only come once in a generation. Heck, Myles Garrett, and T.J. Watt, two of the most dominant edge rushers, in the NFL aren't nearly in the same level as White, and you would get a black stare if you thought about comparing them to White.

The closest defender to be in the same echelon as White in recent years could be former defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who wreaked havoc in the league since the Los Angeles Rams drafted him in 2014 up until the moment he retired in 2023.

How great was Reggie White during his playing days in the NFL?

If you were wondering just how dominant White was in his heyday, here's a clip of the player Doug Pederson thought of when asked whom Hines-Allen reminds him of. For context, he casually tossed Hall-of-Fame receiver Chris Carter around like a ragdoll to record a sack of quarterback Warren Moon, another All-Time great.

Even at the college level, White was already showing signs of dominance. His 32 sacks at Tennessee were a school record for more than 30 yards until Derek Barnett broke it in 2016. Then again, Barnett needed more games to reach the 33-mark, so you could make the case that it didn't affect White's legacy at his alma matter.

Once he got to the pros, White wreaked havoc for the Philadelphia Eagles, and later for the Green Bay Packers. He was an All-Decade Team designation and made the All-Pro as a member of both teams. The All-Time great retired in 1999 but returned one year later to play one last season for the Carolina Panthers. He passed in 2004 and was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame two years later.

For proof of how much of a generational talent he was, White could've been inducted into the Hall of Fame on the strength of his stint in Philly.

Throughout the duration of a career that lasted 15 seasons, White appeared in 232 games with 228 starts, registering 198 sacks, three interceptions, and 33 forced fumbles.

How much of a Reggie White does Josh Hines-Allen have in him?

You just never know how a career will play out. Maybe a player is off to a great start but injuries derail it. Conversely, he could start slow but pick up steam on his way to the Hall of Fame. That's precisely what happened to Chris Carter who showed talent early in his career but it wasn't until he joined the Minnesota Vikings that he hit his stride.

Kurt Warner, an undrafted free agent, was nothing more than a camp body until one day he was pressed into action when Rodney Harrison brought down Trent Green in 1999. Warner went on to lead the St. Louis Rams to their first Super Bowl win. He nearly repeated the feat with the Arizona Cardinals, taking them all the way to the Championship Game but ultimately losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This is to say that Josh Hines-Allen has a long way to go before he becomes a strong candidate to end up in the Hall of Fame. That said, fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars should be thrilled about Doug Pederson comparing him to Reggie White. He may never be as dominant but he certainly has the talent and puts in the work to become one of the best at what he does.

Hines-Allen is coming off a career year in which he logged 17.5 sacks. He's now setting his sights on winning the Defensive Player of the Year and helping the Jacksonville Jaguars win their first Super Bowl. If he keeps improving, they'll certainly have a chance, and maybe, just maybe he'll make his way to the Hall of Fame, like Reggie White did.

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